3 Things to Know About Supplementary Credit Cards

Supplementary credit cards, as the name suggests, are issued under your original or primary card. This card can be issued for family members, parents, spouse or children above 18 years of age depending on terms and conditions attached with the card. The credit limit on these cards differs from bank to bank.

All supplementary cards are issued in the primary cardholder’s name. They will be directed to the primary cardholder’s account when the dues are to be paid.

Usually the limit on a supplementary credit card is lower than that of the primary credit card.

Also, in case of multiple supplementary cards, the sub limit for these cards would be equally distributed among the supplementary cards.

The payment and transaction information with regards to each supplementary credit card will be recorded on the primary account itself. This helps keep track of each supplementary card’s usage easily as the statements would appear on the primary card account.

Usually there is no fee involved for supplementary credit cards. And, sometimes banks or credit companies issue complementary cards up to a limit, above which a fee is charged for additional ones.

Your credit report will show the information with regards to your primary credit card so it is important that you make payments towards your primary card and supplementary credit cards before the due date each month. Not doing so can lead to a lower credit score.

All transactions of supplementary cards are recorded over the same statement as the primary credit card, so all the information needed is available over one statement.

Banks and credit card companies offer reward points for usage of both primary and supplementary credit cards. These can then be redeemed for an assortment of rewards, including air miles in case of co-branded cards*.